President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides described on Thursday the official visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Cyprus as a historic one noting that it sends a clear message as regards the strength and prospects of the strategic cooperation between the two states.

In his statement at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, President Macron referred to a “strategically balanced cooperation” between Cyprus and France.

He thanked President Christodoulides for his initiative to invite heads of state from the Middle East region, as well as the President of Ukraine, to the informal meeting of EU heads of state taking place today and tomorrow in Cyprus in the context of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Referring to the friendship and strategic cooperation between the two countries, President Christodoulides told his French counterpart that “true friends can be seen in difficult times and you have proven it in practice.”

He thanked the French President for his country’s substantive support in the efforts to resume talks and resolve the Cyprus problem on the basis of international law, the principles and values of the European Union.